Chapter 121: The Red Clothed Female Army (Three)

  So I was placed under house arrest for another day, which was the fourth day. That's when I finally met Jia Zhen, who was under Hongyi's command. 81.cn

  Jia Zhen's smiling face made me feel very close, and I smiled and said: "You finally came, I thought you all forgot about me."

  Jia Zhen's face turned slightly red, and he immediately said: "Don't be impudent. I'm here to convey our superior's orders. You're coming with me now, and I'll take you to see our superior."

  "I said immediately: 'I've been waiting for a long time, I can go with you right now.'"

  Jia Zhen smiled and said: "Then come with me." He turned around and left.

  I followed her all the way, and in just a few minutes we arrived at the heavily guarded outer door of an underground suite. The exterior of this suite was almost identical to the one I had stayed in for several days before, except that there were more guards, making it look even more secure.

  Jia Zhen brought me here and took out a document similar to an ID card, showed it to the guard at the door for a glance, then said to me: "You go in yourself, our superiors are waiting for you inside."

  I felt a bit strange, but still walked into the suite in big strides. Inside the door of the suite was also a room like a living room, with more than a dozen people sitting inside, who seemed to be high-ranking officials of the Red Dress Female Army.

  My arrival, the red-clothed woman sitting in the middle stood up with a smile and said to me: "Mr. Jin, please sit down. Let me introduce you, these are all the commanders of our Red Clothed Women's Army, starting from your left, they are Commander One, Commander Two... all the way to Commander Seven."

  I shook hands with the seven team leaders one by one, and that was how we got to know each other. Then I heard the woman in red say: "The Chen Jiacheng and Chen Jiagui next to me you already know, so I won't introduce them again."

  I smiled and greeted Chen Jiaqing and Chen Jiagui, then looked at the last man with a gloomy face and asked the woman in red: "Who is this?"

  The woman in red looked somewhat displeased but still said: "He is my brother. In our organization, he has a code name called 'Black-clad Man'."

  I heard the red-clad woman's tone was somewhat disdainful, and I knew that there must be some grudge between the siblings. So I nodded to the "black-clad man" with a gloomy face without saying a word, which counted as a greeting.

  The man in black wasn't wearing black clothes, but a suit that was straight and neat, looking like a handsome young man with a refined demeanor. If he hadn't been frowning all the time, he would have indeed qualified as a handsome young man. Unfortunately, the current him was quite far from being described as having a refined demeanor.

  I saw the woman in red didn't say anything else, so I directly said: "I don't know what decision you have made after discussing?"

  The woman in red glanced at the man in black and said to herself, "Our chief of staff is still on his way here, let's talk after he arrives."

  I found it strange that someone still wanted to come over and negotiate with me, but I didn't know what kind of person he was. Hopefully, he wouldn't be a formidable guy, or else the negotiation might be very difficult. So I couldn't help but say: "Your Excellency's chief of staff? Then let's wait a bit longer."

  The lady in red smiled and said: "Mr. Jin is acquainted with our chief of staff, you met him not long ago."

  "I'm puzzled: 'Have we met before? This... I don't seem to recall it at all.'"

  The woman in red smiled and said: "Please forgive me for keeping you in suspense. When the Chief of Staff arrives, you will understand the whole story."

  I found it strange in my heart, but I could only nod and indicate that I would wait for their chief of staff.

  We all fell silent, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became somewhat oppressive. I glanced at the man in black who was still looking gloomy and suddenly asked him: "What position do you hold in the Red Dress Organization?"

  The man in black didn't expect me to ask this directly and was somewhat unexpectedly surprised, saying: "I'm logistics... why are you asking this?"

  I laughed: "You're from the logistics department? That's the most important department, as the saying goes, logistics is the key to all wars, and the troops haven't moved yet, but the grain and grass have already been transported. Your position is too important, it seems that the Red Cloak Female Commander values you highly."

  The man in black originally smiled with some joy after hearing my words, but when I finished the last sentence, his face immediately became gloomy again: "Respect? If Master respected me, why would he let a little girl take my place and put me in the logistics department to do that thankless job?"

  "The red-clothed woman frowned and said: 'The position of Chief of Staff is extremely important, only someone with great wisdom, great ability, great willpower, and great tolerance can take on this role. You used to be barely able to handle this position, but now you've become somewhat impatient and impulsive, and you can't control yourself in the face of major issues, so you're no longer suitable for the position of Chief of Staff. I'm also handling this matter impartially, and the new Chief of Staff's performance has proven that my decision is correct.'"

  The man in black stood up excitedly: "Then how did she let Jin Cang... no, Mr. Jin infiltrate our base? I didn't have such a thing happen when I was in charge. Does this mean her ability is stronger than mine?"

  The woman in red said coldly, "Mr. Jin's entry into our place is not because of you, but because your man went out to buy food and accidentally... How can this be blamed on the Chief of Staff? Brother, I know you're upset and resentful that I shouldn't have let you go to the logistics department. But now is a moment when the survival of our entire army is at stake, and although I'm your sister, I must consider everyone in the army. So I hope you won't participate in this negotiation with Mr. Jin with emotions, and also pay attention to the impact."

  There was a hint of anger and blame in the red-clothed woman's tone, and the black-clothed man suddenly became silent, slowly sat down, lowered his head and didn't say a word.

  I chimed in from the side, "Master, don't blame your brother either. You know that anyone who is suddenly pulled down from a high position will inevitably have some emotional turmoil. I think your brother is still very cooperative with your work. If it were someone else, they might have left after encountering such a situation, and how could they still stay to help you manage the logistics?"

  The woman in red looked at the man in black and her tone softened: "I also know that you have thoughts in your heart, brother, but can't you wait until our negotiations with Mr. Jin are over before talking to me? Letting Mr. Jin know about these things between us siblings would be very bad for our reputation. Fortunately, Mr. Jin is not an outsider and won't spread our embarrassing affairs around. Otherwise, how could we still show our faces in front of the soldiers in the future?"

  "Internal conflicts must not be known to outsiders, this is the most basic organizational quality." The third battalion commander said coldly: "However, now it's just us few people who know about this matter, I believe no one will leak it out, and the impact won't be too big."

  Everyone in the room nodded slowly, but everyone's eyes were on me, an outsider. I smiled and said, "This is not a big deal, there's no need for everyone to be so tense. Such things also happen within our government army."

  The squadron leader smiled slightly, stood up and saluted me: "Instructor, I used to be in the troops too, I know what's going on in the troops. But I didn't expect you to say it out so directly, it seems that you are sincere in coming to negotiate with us. Here, I show my respect to you."

  I also stood up, smiling and said: "You're too polite. To be honest, I'm just a half-baked soldier, not a real soldier at all. On the other hand, it's you guys who came out of the army, who are the real soldiers, worthy of my learning and respect."

  The woman in red smiled and said, "Mr. Jin is trying to win me over, this is not a good thing, I must severely condemn you."

  I knew she was joking and also reminding her three squad leaders not to be assimilated by me. So I said to her: "This time I came is to win over everyone, and it's a sincere win over everyone, so there's nothing wrong with that."

  The woman in red laughed and said: "Then how do you plan to win us over? We're not just a few people, our legion now has more than 13,000 people, what are you going to do with us?"

  I didn't expect the woman in red to ask such a question directly, and after thinking for a moment, she said: "Our country has an army of one million, and they are all well taken care of by the state, aren't they? Your 13,000 people, I think there should be no problem. The key is whether you are willing to bring your people into our government's military."

  The woman in red stood up, took a few steps, and then said: "This will be decided after our chief of staff arrives. Now, please rest for a while, Mr. Jin, we'll wait for the chief of staff for a few more minutes."

  I nodded and sat down with a smile, continuing to chat with San Tuanzhang: "Which unit were you in before? Was it the 6th Army or the Navy? What rank did you retire at?"

  The division commander said: "I used to be a border guard warrior, belonging to the 6th Army. At that time, I was just a small company commander when I retired."

  I laughed: "Lian Zhang isn't young anymore, and I'm still just a company-level instructor. By the way, have you thought about what to do after returning to the troops?"

  The captain of the third squad glanced at the red-clothed woman who was also listening to our conversation and said in a low voice, "Isn't it a bit too early to discuss this matter now?"

  I shook my head and said firmly, "It's not early, everyone should think about what to do after returning to the government army. Our country is now facing invasion from multiple forces, it's time for everyone to serve their country. So I want to ask everyone to think about how to drive out our common enemy and restore a peaceful and stable living environment for our people?"

  My words were timely, and almost everyone began to think about the problem I mentioned. However, the woman in red was not moved by my words, and she said lightly: "Let's talk about these things later. Mr. Jin, your most important task now is to make us willingly return to the government army. Do you think we will obediently follow you back to the government army just because of a few words?"

  I smiled and said loudly to the people from the Red Clothing Female Organization who were all staring at me: "If you have any requests or conditions, you can tell me after your chief of staff arrives. As long as it's not too unreasonable or against our country's laws, I'll make sure everyone is satisfied."

  No sooner had I finished speaking than someone outside the door said: "Our conditions are very simple. It's just that we don't know if they violate your government's laws."

  As I turned around, I saw a woman who looked very much like a man standing at the door looking at me. I immediately recognized that this person was the female warrior who had been mistaken for a man by me a few days ago. What I didn't expect was that she would be the chief of staff of the Red Dress Female Army.

  I stared at her in a daze, and she smiled: "What's wrong, don't you recognize me? That day you didn't kill me, I haven't had the chance to thank you yet. Now is an opportunity, Mr. Jin, thanks for sparing my life that day."

  I forced a smile and said: "How should I put it, I... should be the one apologizing to you."

  The woman in red smiled and said, "Let bygones be bygones, there's no use talking about it. Mr. Jin, let me introduce you formally. This is our new Chief of Staff, Han Yi, Chief of Staff Han. Chief of Staff Han, this is the famous instructor of the Dragon Protection Squad, Jin Cang, Mr. Jin."

  I smiled and said: "No need to be polite, just call me Jin Cang."

  Han Yi's name is also very masculine, just like her appearance. She said: "I knew it a long time ago, but that day I didn't have the time to chat with Mr. Jin properly, otherwise Mr. Jin wouldn't have had to disguise himself as our warrior by taking my clothes."

  I glanced at the clothes still on me and smiled wryly: "Really sorry, I was only thinking of getting in at the time, causing you trouble."

  Han Yi smiled and said, "It's nothing. Actually, this clothing isn't mine either. That day I just went to visit an old friend from my hometown, didn't expect to run into you, Mr. Jin. The clothes you took aren't mine, but belong to my old friend."

  I thought to myself, "No wonder this clothes is so big, it doesn't seem like your clothes at all. This clothes is so big that it almost wraps you up completely." I said out loud, "But I'm wearing it quite fittingly."

  Han Yi smiled and then walked directly to the seat where the woman in red had been sitting and sat down: "Everyone knows each other, let's get down to business now."

  I sat down, waiting for everyone to sit down before saying: "Now I am representing the military department of the government to negotiate with you all. It's a bit sudden and no prior notice was given to everyone, which is my fault. Here, I apologize to everyone first, hoping that you won't blame me."

  The woman in red said: "Mr. Jin, don't be polite, we don't mean to blame you. Since we are negotiating, let's speak directly and say what we want."

  I nodded: "Let's assume so. If anyone has any ideas or opinions, now is the time to tell me."

  Han Yi and the Red Clothed Woman exchanged a glance, then he said: "As the chief of staff of the Red Clothed Woman Army, I have a responsibility to think for everyone in the army. So my first condition is that no matter whether we violated the law before, after we join the government army, you must not find trouble with us."

  "I didn't even think about it and said: 'This is natural, no past grievances will be held against you, and past events will not be mentioned again. Everyone can rest assured on this point.'"

  Han Yi said in a serious tone: "Alright. My second condition is that our legion cannot be disbanded, we must maintain our current organization and troops, at most you can give us new numbers."

  I frowned and said, "This is something I've thought about carefully. You should know that you now have over 13,000 people, far more than a regular division. If you don't agree to be divided into other troops, then the formation may need to be changed."

  Han Yi said firmly: "This is what we collectively decided after discussion. If you don't agree, we won't join the government army."

  I forced a smile: "So this is a necessary condition for you to join the government army."

  Han Yi nodded: "It can be said so."

  I closed my eyes and thought for a moment, then said: "This condition is also acceptable. What's your next condition?"

  Han Yi looked at me and whispered after taking a deep breath: "Our third condition is that you... Jin Cang, you must be the instructor of our school."

  I was taken aback and immediately said, "How is this possible? I am the instructor of the Hu Long Lian..." My words got to this point, suddenly remembered that the Hu Long Lian has been disbanded, where is the Hu Long Lian now?

  Han Yi said faintly, "Do you still want to return to the Dragon Guard Regiment? Then let our division reorganize a new Dragon Guard Regiment. No, not a regiment, but a Dragon Guard Brigade, or even a Dragon Guard Division."

  I fell silent, knowing that this condition, which seemed like a joke at first, actually carried a heavy responsibility. The Red Cloaks didn't trust others, so they wanted me by their side. On the one hand, I could serve as a talisman for them; on the other hand, I could also provide some assistance, killing two birds with one stone.

  Unfortunately, once I agree to this condition, I will lose my freedom and have to bear a heavy burden. Moreover, given my current situation, I may bring disaster to them as well.

  Han Yi's idea is good, but she doesn't know that I'm no longer a soldier now, and whether I can really serve as their instructor also depends on the decision of our superiors. So I slowly said: "This matter still needs to be decided by our commander, I will contact him as soon as possible and follow his orders."

  Han Yi smiled: "As long as you agree, they will definitely agree too."

  I sighed and said, "Everything is in your hands, this negotiation is also too suffocating for me... If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have called it a negotiation. I might as well just say that I'm here to deliver messages for you."

  Han Yi smiled and said: "Mr. Jin is too modest, aren't we discussing this with you now? If you have any opinions, you can also tell us."

  I immediately said: "I really have an opinion, that is can you change someone to talk to me? You are too powerful, I simply can't argue with you."

  Han Yi was taken aback, and the red-clothed woman burst out laughing: "Mr. Jin is really humorous, but what he said is also true. Our new chief of staff is indeed very formidable, even I couldn't outtalk her."

  Han Yi hastily said: "I am representing our Red Clothes Female Army to negotiate with Mr. Jin, can you be serious for a moment, Mr. Jin?"

  I suppressed a smile and said: "I'm not being unserious, I just think this negotiation is unfair to me. Now, you can continue with your demands."

  Han Yi glared at me and continued, "Our fourth demand is that we want to enjoy the same treatment as your government army. Listen clearly, it's the same treatment, exactly the same, any difference we do not agree with."

  I nodded slightly: "This is certain, as long as you join our government army, that's your own people, the treatment and so on, of course, must be the same."

  Han Yi "cut" in: "Don't play this trick on us, you have to give us a guarantee. Don't think we don't know that your government is unfair even to its own people. Not to mention others, just look at yourself, aren't you always being treated unfairly by your government?"

  I couldn't help but smile wryly, secretly admiring Han Yi's keen observation. In fact, our repeated treatment of ourselves is also unfair at times. Although it's said that there's no absolute fairness in this world, sometimes this unfairness is just too glaring.

  People doing the same thing in government departments, some people have three to five thousand a month, and some people don't even have one thousand a month. Where is the fairness? So it's no wonder that Han Yi would bring this up as a condition.

  "I thought of this and said: 'You're right, so now I'll represent my superiors to promise you that as long as you sincerely join the government army, your treatment will be exactly the same as the regular troops of the government army.'"

  Han Yi smiled and said with great satisfaction: "That's really good, we also have an account for our warriors."

  The woman in red said: "Hurry up and say the last condition, we still have a meeting to attend."

  Han Yi nodded and said calmly: "Our last condition, which is also our most important condition, we hope Mr. Jin can give us a reply as soon as possible."

  From what she said, I didn't think they wanted me to agree immediately. This condition must be very difficult to fulfill, otherwise, they wouldn't give me time to consider it.

  I made mental preparation and then said very seriously: "You can speak now."

  Han Yi saw my worried face and couldn't help but chuckle, saying: "Don't be so tense, our conditions aren't that unreasonable." He paused for a moment before regaining his previous seriousness and calmness: "What we mean is, our base will be set up here, at least for the next year, we'll be stationed here."

  I was taken aback, but then I let out a sigh of relief and thought myself lucky. Their conditions weren't unacceptable after all. So I said: "I'll get in touch with our superiors as soon as possible and once I receive their instructions, I'll inform everyone at the first opportunity."

  Han Yi nodded: "Then we'll just wait for good news."

  I stood up and felt some sweat on my back. I guess I was too nervous, so even the sweat came out by itself...